We received a copy of the Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures to try out and review. I think that this was a strong showing from PBS kids for math skills for pre-schoolers. The app is rated 4+ and was perfect for Eva who is five. She took to the app naturally. First she tried out the game, Don’s Collection. This game has three levels and shows kids a bar graph where Don asks kids questions about his collection. Kids can compare the columns filled with items in Don’s collection to pick the correct answer. Kids learn to differentiate between greater and less than. In level one there are only two columns and the comparison is fairly easy. At level two another column is added and the difficulty increases a bit. At level three there are four columns and kids make observations and start working on simple ratios. As your child completes each level they unlock the next one.
The second game is called Through the Window where your child is riding on the Dinosaur Train with Buddy and Tiny and they make observations through the train window. Selecting on objects that Buddy sees while Tiny counts them off. On the first level kids count a small number of items. Level two means larger numbers and the objects are more varied. Then the child gets to level three they count two different items at the same time so they might be looking for 5 plants and 3 shells. As with Don’s Collection players unlock the later levels by completing the early ones.
The third game is called Life Cycles and here players work with Buddy by a pond, there they observe different animals and plants and insects that are at various stages of life. Kids put the different stages in order from earliest to latest and then a mini movie plays. In Level one there are three stages to the life cycle. In level two a fourth stage is added and more complex concepts like metamorphosis are introduced. The third stage brings with it a fifth stage plus a fake out sixth stage from some other species.
As kids complete the stages or replay the stages they earn stickers that can be used in the fourth game called Build a Scene. This is a playful game that allows kids to create scenes in the Triassic, Jurassic or Cretaceous time periods.
Like I said, Eva really took to this game and had a good time playing it. Each level builds up skills for the subsequent levels and kids gain some important mathematical skills as they have fun.
One thing I noticed though was that Shiny wasn’t a part of the app, wonder where Shiny was.
Here is the official description of the app.
Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures App:
Kids can hop on the Dinosaur Train for fun math and science adventures with their favorite characters from the hit series in a *new app* from PBS KIDS, Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures! The Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures app, available for iPad, encourages math and science skills while taking kids through four interactive games, each containing three levels of difficulty. Kids will develop math skills including counting, sequencing and statistical problem-solving and explore life sciences vocabulary and concepts alongside dinosaur friends Buddy, Tiny and Don.
The Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures app is available for iPad for $1.99 on the App Store: http://to.pbs.org/dinomesozoicmath.
Disclosure: We received a copy of The Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures app to try out and review. Opiniosn of this app are 100% our own.